


A Detective, a Pig, and a Computer Scientist Get Dragged Into an Interdimensional Portal

by one_true_houselight



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: Descriptions of Pain, Found Family, Gen, between scenes, wooooooooooo, you're like me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-04-11
Packaged: 2020-01-11 06:20:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18424656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_true_houselight/pseuds/one_true_houselight
Summary: How the B-Team got to the Spider Shed.





	A Detective, a Pig, and a Computer Scientist Get Dragged Into an Interdimensional Portal

**Author's Note:**

> I'M BACK ENJOY

Peter Benjamin Parker stumbled into his house with a groan. He pulled off his mask and rubbed his eyes before walking into his kitchen to grab a glass of water. He looked down at his glass and wished he could go get an egg cream, but it was late, and he knew his normal shop would be closed. He slowly sipped the water as he stretched, his muscles aching, seemingly too tired to scream as they normally did. 

Just as he was about to head to bed, his Sense pulsed at something outside his window. Hurrying over, he heard a shout from the street below. He reached the window and saw a man fighting with two others and losing. From their clothes, he could everyone involved was hungry and desperate, a common sight as the Depression raged on. 

He sighed and put his mask back on as he opened the window, deciding it wasn’t worth it to go out his door. These people weren’t criminals, they weren’t masterminds who might exploit, or even notice Spider-Man leaving his apartment; they were just poor, tired people who were trying to claw their way to another day of existence. 

He shot a web and swung down right next to the group. Two of the men (the attacked and one of the attackers) looked up and their eyes widened. One of them tried to bolt, but Peter webbed him back, which made the others decide not to try the same. 

“Hey fellas. Looks like we got a disagreement here.” The two who had attacked the third shifted uncomfortably, and Peter realized that everyone standing in front of him couldn’t be older than nineteen. This should have been a shock to him, but not much could shock him these days. The three teenagers stood looking at Peter, trying to look guilty, but only coming across as bone-crushingly exhausted. 

After the silence stretched out for a while, Peter spoke again. “I’m guessing this started as an attempt to gain funds for food, or something else?” Two of the boys nodded. “Well, I can’t say I approve of your target, but I understand why you tried.” He turned to the third. “Are you hurt badly?” 

“No, sir.”

Peter chuckled. “There’s no need to call me sir. Ok, I’m going to give you each a card with information about places to get food, and to organize to help you and others get fair work. Use that energy for something good.” He pulled out the cards he kept in his coat for this purpose and handed one to each of the boys.

One of the ones who had attacked the third turned to him and said, quietly, “I’m sorry we tried to mug you.”

The other piped up. “Yeah, we haven’t eaten in a few days, we were desperate.”

“It’s fine.” Peter nodded as the three shook hands. 

“Alright, you three stay out of trouble. Stay safe.”

“We will, sir,” they chorused. Peter was too tired to correct them as they turned and started heading back down the street. He watched them turn the corner, then looked around to be sure there wasn’t anyone watching. Once he was sure he was sure, he turned and shot a web to the wall above his window. As he climbed, however, he felt himself drop a bit, as if the web had slipped. _Shit._

He looked up and saw dark shapes swirling around where his web was attached to the wall. “What the-” Suddenly, the shapes morphed into...something else. He blinked rapidly, not sure what he was seeing. There were more shapes, and they were expanding into some kind of circle. But he had never seen anything like this, they pierced his eyes, they looked so different, but he couldn’t look away-

Then, he felt a strong tug on the web he was still holding on to. He watched as the web was pulled into the newly formed circle, and he saw an expanse beyond, criss crossed with glistening strands, and beyond that more of whatever those shapes had been made of. He shook himself out of his reverie and tried to scuttle away from the hole, but as soon as he’d lifted his hands to move, he felt the force strengthen and he was pulled inexorably towards the circle. He spun in the air as he waved his arms and legs, trying to almost swim through the air to escape. He quickly shot two webs to the ground below, trying to anchor himself. But those webs were slowly pulled away from the sidewalk, and he hurtled into the circle, strange strands and sensations swirling around him. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spider Ham flipped down from the ceiling as Dr. Crawdaddy (he _really_ did not like that name) spun, having just webbed him up. He reached into the ether and pulled out his hammer, then swung it right into the spinning crawfish. He watched as the villain flew through wall after wall in his seemingly infinite laboratory. Well, he supposed that was done. 

“Well, you mess with the Ham, you get the Hammer.” He started walking away, kissing his trusty hammer as he went. “Now, that hotdog must be getting cold-” Without warning beyond a sudden pulse of his Sense, two black tendrils appeared from behind him and seemed to grab onto something invisible. They pulled back, leaving echoes of pink and teal as they manifested...something in front of him. It was a gray line, from floor to ceiling. Or possibly a barrier; the more he looked at it, the more it seemed to be both a simple line and a complete barrier, blocking off the rest of the lab behind it. As he muttered, he looked up and saw something familiar: a set of three dots, right at the top of the line-from-hell. Red, yellow, and green. 

It looked like the bar at the top of his computer, where you could close out of a window. 

As he realized this, his first thought was annoyance that whoever was watching him on their screen was not full screening him. He turned to where the screen would be and banged, yelling, “I demand full screen treatment!” He realized, vaguely, that realizing he was on somebody’s computer screen should probably elicit a different reaction than this. Fear, amybe. Confusion. A second level existential crisis at _least_. But being Spider-Ham had led to him not being as surprised at things like this. Once you’ve changed species and become a crime-fighter, it was a lot harder to phase you. 

In front him as he finished voicing his displeasure, he watched the same tendrils reach past him and grab onto something, and suddenly his whole world went haywire. Colors and shapes flashed around him, and he felt himself stretch and contort. He screamed, and his voice came out as if his vocal cords were phasing in and out of existence multiple times a second. Then, as suddenly as it had started, he was standing on the ground again, breathing heavily and clutching his sides. 

He looked up to see a large pen sticking out from a circle made of the same tendril material, swirling and pulsating. There seemed to be a mouse cursor attached to the point. It was very close to his face, and he was already on edge from this whole thing. 

“Hey, I’m standing here!” He swatted at it, missing. He looked around, hoping to find where the Doctor was controlling this from. “Didn’t you tell your experiments that it’s rude to point, Doctor Ding-Dong?” This was ridiculous-

Suddenly, the pen lunged for him and started poking him-no, clicking him, if that sound was to be any judge. “OW, OW!” Before he could react further, the pen stuck to his forehead and started dragging him around the room, pushing him directly into the quantum line and ceiling. It vanished, but he stayed suspended in mid air, and he looked out, hopefully at whoever was doing this to him. “Hey, guys, calibrate your screen every now and then!” He watched as the swirling portal opened again, along with a slide bar on the floor. He knew that slide bar too-

A tendril started to slide the bar back and forth violently, and Ham moved with it, running over and over into the line. He was yelling, and then there was a sickening squelch and he looked down to see a Ham-shaped mess of lines fall away from his now almost formless body. “My outlines! My outLINES” The glitching started again, and his continued yelling seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere. Everything was dark and light, and he was hurtling through space and-

He was laying on the floor. He slowly opened his eyes to see a mess of black lines in the shape of-

“AUGH.” Even though he was alone, he felt undressed in a way he couldn’t explain. “Ok, nobody look.” He felt a little silly about that, as he grabbed his outlines (why did he have outlines?) and tried to figure out how to replace them. He closed his eyes and tried to slap them onto his body, and he felt something wriggle around him. He opened an eye and looked down, and was relieved to see the issue seemed to be fixed. “That’s better…”

He breathed in and out for a bit, trying to calm down. He looked around again, trying to find Dr. Crawdaddy, whose name at this point was the least of his worries. “Boy, that was weird.” As he was about to chuckle, a blinding white light shone down from above him, making him freeze in place. He looked up to see a massive, spinning portal, the same blacks and blues and pinks winking in and out of existence. He watched as desktop shortcuts whizzed past him, and could feel himself getting pulled in too. 

“What?” He tried to run and couldn’t. “A portal to another movie’s timeline?” That was kind of sarcastic, wasn't it...He could feel himself glitching, and the thought of his being in a movie started to amuse him. With his luck, though…

“I HOPE I HAVEN’T MISSED THE FIRST 62 MINUTES!” As he felt himself getting pulled in, he desperately shot out two webs, hoping to anchor himself to the ground below. As he felt them failing, he moaned, “All I wanted was a hot dog-” and he was pulled in. 

As he hurtled through a vast space, filled with sparking strands, he saw his hotdog floating next to him. As he reached out, it popped out of existence. He leaned back into whatever force was propelling him along, resigned to his fate. 

“OH C’MON.”

Ok, _now_ he was resigned to his fate.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peni Parker grabbed a piece of popcorn from the bowl she had wedged in Sp//dr’s cockpit before she had left and ate it, deftly maneuvering out of the way of a punch with her free hand. She quickly kicked this attacker into the wall, webbing him to it as she spun to tangle with a second combatant. After exchanging a few blows, she sent them flying through an open door, unconscious. She went back to the webbed man and put an arm on his shoulder, pushing down slightly. 

“What the hell are you all doing?”

“I’ll never tell!” Peni rolled her eyes, and could see Sp//dr’s display do the same. She dialed up the pressure on the arm, and the man screamed. “Look, look, the boss just told us to come and steal the statue, I don’t know why!” 

“Who’s your boss?”

The man hesitated, and Peni pushed more. “AH, I can’t tell you, he’ll kill me!” She could tell from his eyes that he wasn’t going to budge anymore. She picked him up and tossed him into the next room with the other perp, then webbed it shut. She started up a call to the police commissioner, turning on her voice scrambler as she thought about this case. 

It had started a few months earlier, with a string of disappearances that had shared some odd similarities; the main one, of course, was the complete randomness of the people disappearing. Or so it had seemed. From that point, Peni had been on a whirlwind of ridiculousness, from having to fight off a crocodile in the governor’s penthouse, to a secret meeting in an underground poker ring. And now, the next piece of the puzzle seemed to be about this statue, and she wasn’t any closer to solving it than she had been when she dropped in the head of the first robber through the door. 

Before she could mull it over further, the phone connected and the commissioner started talking, asking about the statue. “It was not stolen, two robbers, at least one unconscious.”

“Do we know anything new?”

“Besides that whoever is doing this sent two low level thieves to get this? No.” As the commissioner replied, a fast beeping started coming from a monitor to Peni’s left. She pulled it closer and tried to parse the readings flitting across the screen. There were multiple kinds of energy, some incredibly rare, pulsing through this room. She turned Sp//dr towards the statue, but it didn’t seem to be coming from there. Was the statue a false flag? 

“Spider, are you listening to me?”

“Yeah, just getting some weird readings, hold-” Peni almost fell out of her seat as large black blobs appeared in the center of the room. She trained her readings on that, and watched them spike higher and higher as colorful shapes joined the black. They started expanding and forming a circle, and Sp//dr started sounding an alarm that indicated it was being moved against her will. Peni quickly tried moving away from the circle, but could tell it wasn’t working. 

“Spider, what the hell are you doing?”

Peni cursed before shouting, “Something came up, hang on!”

She kept trying to escape as the commissioner started shouting, something about how he needed her to stay focused, and how this was the city’s top priority, and blah blah blah...Sp//dr was pulled of its feel and started careening towards the hole, which had opened up enough to reveal some kind of void, filled with strands of light and swirling vortexes of color. AS a last ditch effort, Peni shot two webs, hoping to anchor herself to the ground below. More alarms sounded and the force increased, and the webs failed, and she went flying into the void, the commissioner’s voice fizzling out along with the portal. 

She typed a few times, making sure the readings were being recorded, then sat back, watching this new world swirl around her. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter Benjamin Parker was hurtling through this strange world when he saw another circle open in front of him. Something bright, similar to the first shapes he had seen was on the other side. He quickly tried to right himself, preparing for whatever was coming next. 

What came was a quick stop, and a slow slide down to the ground. He could feel people stopping around him, and he slowly rolled over and opened his eyes, only to squeeze them closed again. But it wasn’t enough, the brightness, the strangeness was imprinted on the back of his eyelids. He felt a hand lightly touch his shoulder. He slowly opened his eyes again, forcing himself to keep them open as he tried to focus on the face in front of him. 

“Hey, you ok?” Peter nodded slowly, despite the rising headache from everything around him. He let the stranger help him up as he looked around. Even ignoring the warmth and coolness of what he was seeing, his surroundings were overwhelming. He was in a city, certainly, but there were large...windows? They couldn’t be paintings, because many of them moved, and they seemed to emit light, or maybe they were made of light? 

People were starting to move on their way, a stream splitting around him like a river around a fallen log. Peter unconsciously hugged himself, some kind of panic filling his head. There’s was just so much, and it was so bright, and he still didn’t understand what he was seeing, not really. He looked around, and saw a dark alley to his left. He stumbled towards it, hoping if he could get out of the center of this new world, he could collect his thoughts. 

It was better in the alley, but Peter felt like his head was filled with buzzing from everything he had seen. He leaned against a wall and slid slowly down it, closing his eyes as he curled up, trying to breathe his way back to clarity. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spider Ham was screaming as he flew towards the large screen. He wasn’t too worried, he had taken worse hits before, but he didn’t have many other options. He was going too fast to accurately web anything, and he was somersaulting enough to make him not sure he could tell which way was up anyway. So screaming it was. He hit the bright pink screen and slid down to the ground below. He let himself lay there for a second, trying to regain his sense of...anything, really. 

Finally, he opened his eyes and saw...creatures of some kind towering over him. He screamed and hopped up, going into some kind of fighting stance. “Where the hell am I?”

Someone in the crowd gasped. “Oh my god, I think this is some kind of promotion for Mulaney!”

“For _what_?”

“It sounds just like him!”

“Hey, I’m right here, no need to call me an it-”

But the crowd was already moving along, some clearly snapping pictures with their phones. Ham moaned and looked around. He was in some kind of city, but it seemed to be completely populated by whatever the hell these creatures were. Thrilling. 

As he looked around, he saw a cat across the street. _Oh thank god, someone I can talk to._ He started jogging across the street, then had to jump backwards to avoid a giant car whizzing past. “Hey!” He looked down the street and saw more cars than he could count. He sighed and webbed up and over the street, muttering about drivers. 

Once he had made it to the other side, he saw the cat had paused outside an alley. He hurried over, calling out, “Hey, I’m very lost, could you help me?” As he reached the cat, it looked up at him, and he saw there wasn’t a glint of recognition in its eyes. “Hello?”

When the cat only started rubbing up against his knee, he frowned down at it. “Well, that’s a bit forward. Are you French? I know some French, hang on…” He racked his brains, trying to remember even a single phrase from the book he’d gotten a few years ago. “Bonjour?” Still nothing, though the cat was purring now. 

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…” He gently pushed the cat away, who looked up at him, offended, before scampering away. As Ham started looking around again, his Sense quietly pinged on something down the alley. He peered down to see a figure all in black sitting on the ground, seemingly curled up in a fetal position. Ham carefully walked down the alley, keeping an eye on his surroundings. 

“Hey, you ok?” The figure looked up, and Ham could now see it was another one of the creatures that had surrounded him when he’d landed. But this one had a mask on, and Ham squinted at that, but before he could wonder about it, his Sense started singing. 

Over the years, his Sense had done a lot of things. Yelled, pulsed, screamed, complained. Always to alert him to something dangerous, or a situation he had to go fix, or to just make him more aware. But it had never done this, sung some kind of melody that resonated deep, deep in his chest. And he knew what it meant, though he didn’t know how; it was almost as if a voice spoke to him from a place he couldn’t quite hear, but he understood it all the same. 

“You’re like me.” Ham’s eyes widened as he realized the figure had said the same thing, and judging by their face, they had just experienced the same thing he had. “Holy shit.” Ham carefully approached the figure, trying to seem non-threatening. “I, uh. This is kind of a weird question. But what are you?”

The figure looked at him, and seemed to be relaxing a bit. “I’m human. You’re a pig.” Their voice was deep. Ham reached up and took off his mask. 

“Yeah, I am. A human, huh? Is that what everyone else here is?” The figure nodded. “Ok, cool. I’m Peter Porker. Also known as Spider Ham.” To his surprise, the figure started laughing. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m just...I’m Peter Parker. And I’m Spider-Man, where I’m from.”

“For real? Wow, when I said ‘you’re like me’, I didn't think it was _that_ close.” Before either of them could speak again, Ham Sensed something behind him. He spun around, and he heard the other Peter stand up behind him. Standing in the alley was a large, circular robot, with long limbs and a display with a confused pixel face. 

“What the-” And then his Sense sang again, and Ham unthinkingly took a step towards the robot. A hatch on top opened, and a small human popped up. 

“You’re like me.” Ham saw the same words on the new, smaller human’s lips, and heard them from behind him. “What the hell?”

“I’m Peni Parker.” Peni clambered out of the robot and slid neatly down to join both Peters. “Did you get pulled here through the weird portals too?”

“Yeah. I’m Peter Porker, that’s Peter Parker.”

“For real?”

“Yeah.” The other Peter had circled around him to form a circle of Spiders, and they all started chuckling. “Well, that’s cool, I guess.”

“What are you riding around in, Peni?” Human Peter was staring at the robot, clearly confused. 

“It’s my robot! My father made it before…” Ham watched as she hesitated, and he could hear the words she wasn’t saying. It looks like their names weren’t the only thing they shared. “It’s where my spider lives. Where are yours?”

“Our what?”

“Spiders.” She said this as if it was obvious, and Ham started getting a sense that this was about to be a very strange conversation. 

“Mine was more of a spider god? So it went away once it bit me.”

“You don’t have a psychic link with them?”

“No, thankfully. We are not exactly on great terms.”

“Wait, you all got bit _by_ a spider?” The other two nodded. “Were you humans before?”

“...Yeah. What else would we be?”

“Well, I was a spider, and then was bitten by a pig.” They stared at him. “And now I’m a spider pig.” He didn’t think that last part was necessary, but he felt like he needed to fill the silence, and wanted to try and not talk about that whole series of events. 

“Alright. Um. So it looks like we all got our powers in different ways, but I think we have similar powers?”

“Web slinging? Climbing?” 

“Yeah.”

“My robot does those, yeah.”

“Cool.” They kind of stared at each other. Human Peter raised his hand awkwardly. 

“Um, can you all explain why everything looks like it does?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why do you look like...that? Like, um…” He pulled off a glove and put his hand next to Peni and Ham’s. His skin was grey, like he’d stepped out of a black and white film. “It’s different. And bright. Especially out there.”

Peni and Ham looked at each other, eyebrows raised. “Peter, have you not seen color before?”

“Of course I have. I see black, white, and a lot of greys.” He stopped and looked back at their three hands. “Are all of these things...other colors?” Peni and Ham nodded. “They’re...so bright. I…” Peter slowly back up and leaned against the wall, and Ham could see that he was breathing in quick, shallow gasps. He recognized a panic attack when he saw it, so he hurried over, as did Peni. 

“Hey, hey. Sensory overload?” Peter looked down, confusion quickly giving way to amazement. 

“Like...when everything’s too much? Like sound, or light, or...color, I guess?” Ham nodded. “There’s a word for it?”

“Yep.” Peni was gently squeezing Peter’s shoulder. “Just keep breathing.” As he did, Peni looked at both of them. “What year is it for you all?”

“2018.”

“1931.” Peter and Ham looked at each other, surprised. _That explains his confusion about the robot…_

“3145 for me. That’s exciting.” The conversation petered out after that, and Ham and Peni let Peter breathe in silence for bit, until he wasn’t shaking anymore. 

“Alright. What’s the plan?” The three of them were seated on the ground, and Ham realized he was hungry. He had only really wanted the hotdog…

“Can we get something to eat? I’m starving.” 

“I don’t have a better plan.” They all stood up and Peni looked over at her robot. “I don’t want to try and bring the whole mech.” She hurried over and opened a small compartment, pulling out a small spider. It bounced happily on her hand as she placed it on her shoulder. 

Ham quickly put his mask back on, and they walked out of the alley into the blinking lights of New York City. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peni sat alone on her side of the booth, looking at the two Spiders looking at menus across the table from her. They had taken off their masks in order to breathe better, and 30s Peter’s color scheme was more prominent than ever. That, along with Ham Peter being a pig, had worried Peni about them sticking out, but as soon as Ham had spoken, everyone had started talking about him being a promotion for some show, so she had let that worry go, instead focusing on all the other worries in her life right then. 

Outside, they had found a newspaper, confirming they were in 2018 in this world, but hadn’t been able to find much more about this world. Or, as it were, they found too much, none of it helpful to their current situation. 30s Peter was confused by 90% of the things around him, Ham Peter didn’t know what humans were, and Peni was only remembering some things from her history class, which could be totally wrong in this world anyway. She could feel Spider in her head, trying to calm her down, which she appreciated. 

She had jotted down some of the readings from Sp//dr before leaving the alley, and was currently doing some calculations, hoping to maybe find a way to get home, or at least figure out what had brought them here. Ham Peter, who had reluctantly gotten a booster seat, peered over at her math-filled napkin. 

“You go to college for that?”

30s Peter looked over in surprise. “She’s twelve.” 

“I don’t know how you all age!”

“Hey, I’m fourteen!” Ham Peter threw up his hands and drank a little of his lemonade. “So, you really haven’t seen a human before?”

“Nope. Just other animals.” He looked back down at his open menu. “Man, does this place have hotdogs?” Peni stopped writing and looked over at 30s Peter. She was relieved to see he didn’t look confused; she wasn’t sure when the hotdog had been invented. 

“Um...if this place does, make sure you get a beef one.”

“Why?”

“We, uh...we make hotdogs out of pork, here. So, um…”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Peni and 30s Peter looked guilty, which made Ham Peter sigh. “I’m not mad at you, I get it. It just figures that my favorite food is made out of my own kind in this damn place.” He kept flipping through the menu as 30s Peter nodded and put his down. 

“What are you getting?” 

“Just a burger. You?”

“Same.” Before she could continue, the TV that had been playing quietly playing behind her played a sting that usually accompanied some kind of breaking news. “Oh, this should help us get our bearings.”

She turned around as the newscaster started speaking. “Sad news tonight. The hero known as Spider-Man has died after injuries related to another powerful earthquake.” Peni gasped and whipped back around, but not before seeing a man who looked exactly like 30s Peter smiling from the screen. Both Peters were looking at the screen, flabbergasted. 

“I would bet that’s why we’re here.”

“We need to find more info on that earthquake. Hey, 30s Peter, you ok?” He was staring transfixed at the screen, and Peni realized how strange this must be, on top of everything else he’d seen tonight, to see himself die. 

Ham Peter gently put a hand on his shoulder, which seemed to shake him back to reality. “Yes, I’m fine. I agree, I believe-” He stopped and started looking around. Peni did as well, and realized they were the only ones talking in the restaurant. Most people were focused on the report ( _he was 26, holy shit_ ), but a few seemed to take new notice of their table, and Peni realized that two of their party was wearing Spider suits, and one looked exactly like the newly dead, newly unmasked hero from this dimension. 

The other two seemed to reach this conclusion at the same time, because they started hunching over and looked at Peni, worry in their eyes. “We need to get out of here.”

“You got money?”

“I don’t think they accept my money here.”

“Shit.”

“One second.” Ham Peter reached into his pocket, and Peni could tell that his hand was going in much farther than it had any right to. “C’mon, c’mon...a ha!” He pulled out a wad of singles that seemed to match the cash Peni had watched get carried by the table. 

“How-”

“I can pull out cash in any currency that isn’t my own, guess my universe didn’t want me to be a counterfeiter. Luckily, it seems to count this as ‘not my universe’.” He quickly put the cash on the table. “Should be good for the drinks and a good tip, let’s go.” The three quickly stood up and left the restaurant, drawing a few more glances but managing to avoid any confrontations. They headed back to the alley, starting to shiver from the cold. Ham Peter in particular was shaking, and Peni realized that his small size was probably not doing him any favors. 

“Hey, everyone gather around Sp//dr.” When the other two looked at her in confusion, she added, “My robot.” They obliged, wrapping their arms around their chests. She quickly climbed into the cockpit and pressed a few buttons, making Sp//dr release heat. She popped back up to see the Peters warming their hands, and she smiled. “Better?”

They nodded. “Ever since I got bit, I always-”

“Had trouble maintaining my temperature.” They smiled at each other as they said it together, and the same feeling Peni had gotten when she’d first seen them rushed through her. She had never really thought about how it would feel to have people like her, not really. She had only taken this mantle after her father had died, and she hadn’t talked with him about it much before that. It was nice to know she wasn’t alone. 

“What’s the plan? Should we just sleep here?” They looked around the alley, which seemed quiet. 

“As long as we have the heat, that should work. We’ll…” Ham Peter yawned, and Peni watched his shoulders sag, and she suddenly felt the exhaustion from her day before she had been dragged here combine with the stress from this new development, and all she wanted to do was sleep. 

“Yeah. I can position Sp//dr neara wall, we can sleep underneath.” She climbed back in and the Peters moved back to let her move. Once she was in position, she hopped out to find 30s Peter laying his long coat under the chassis. 

“A layer on the ground will help keep us warm.” He looked around awkwardly. “If you all are ok sleeping next to each other. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“You’re fine. I was going to ask to sleep close for warmth anyway.”

“I’m fine too, thanks for asking.” 30s Peter nodded, relieved. They all carefully laid down on the coat and curled up. Peni had brought an emergency blanket from inside Sp//dr, which she spread over the the three of them. Spider had burrowed into her shirt, not wanting to be separated from Peni. They had all barely laid down before they were asleep, hoping the next day would bring some answers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peter bolted awake and looked around wildly, trying to figure out where he was. It was bright, but he was under...something. He carefully patted the area around him to find his glasses, as he tried to reconcile what he was seeing with any kind of reality. As he put his newly found glasses on, the events of the night came crashing back down, and thoughts rushed around his head, which hurt, he realized. It was a a sharp, cold pain right behind his eyes. He rubbed it a little before carefully extricating himself from the blanket. He looked down to see the other Peter and Peni still asleep, breathing slowly. He quietly climbed out from under the ro-bot (he thinks that’s what they said) and looked around. He looked up and his breath caught in his chest. 

The sky. There were a few clouds scuttling across it, but they did nothing to cut the sheer expanse of...color he was seeing. He didn’t know what it was called, but he could feel it burrowing into his brain, and he hoped he wouldn’t ever forget it. It looked similar to parts of Peni’s ro-bot, and he figured they were probably shades of the same color. After staring up at it for a while, he pulled his eyes to look at other things in the alley. The brinks were a different color and he had never thought of bricks having color, let alone so many different mixed together. A large metal box that seemed to have some kind of bags, and given the smell, it was a container for garbage. It was another color, and the paint seemed to be peeling to reveal a color similar to the bricks. He started slowly walking up and down the alley, making sure he was never too far from his friends. 

Yes, he had only known them for a few hours, not counting sleeping, and he certainly wouldn’t call them that to their face. But every time he looked at them, every time they shared a look of understanding, every time they were kind to him, kept him calm, he felt the same song in his chest he had felt when he’d first seen the other Peter, and he knew these, at least until they went back home, were the most important people in his life. After a while of him examining colors, he heard someone stir beneath the ro-bot. He walked over to see the other Peter sitting up, rubbing his eyes. 

“Hey, Peter,” he said groggily. His eyes were the same color as the sky. 

“Hello, Peter. How are you?” The small pig climbed out from under the blanket and gently rearranged it to cover Peni more thoroughly. 

“Still a little tired. Got a wicked headache.”

“I do as well. Behind your eyes?” He nodded. “Well, that could be less than good.” To his surprise, the other Peter chuckled. 

“That’s one way to out it, yeah.” He walked over and peeked around the corner of the alley to the street beyond. “Street’s pretty empty. That’s good. The boards are also not as bright, if you want to come look.”

Peter walked over and peered over the pig’s head. There were rows of buildings, the ones with windows reflecting the rising sun. Some buildings seemed to made of windows, and in those he could see the sky, and he could feel his breath catch a little once again. 

“What color is that? The sky, I mean.”

“Blue. It’s a nice one, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Behind them, they heard a groan, and they turned to see Peni sitting up, hair sticking out in strange directions. “How did you sleep, Peni?”

“Fine. I have a really bad headache, though.”

“We do too, kid.”

“Shit.” She stood up and started folding the blanket back up. “Some of my readings were indicating there might some issues with us being in the wrong dimension. Keep an eye on yourselves, alright?” They nodded as she swung back into the ro-bot. Peter walked back over and picked up his coat, slipping it back on. 

“Any idea about what to do today?”

“I think we should start asking around, see if we can get anymore information on that earthquake.” Peni’s voice was muffled from inside the machine, but both Peters still nodded. 

“How are we gonna stay inconspicuous, though? I mean, I’m a pig, you’re greyscale, and you have a very large robot, even for how tall you all are.” A beeping sounded from inside the ro-bot, and Peni laughed. 

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that. Look.” She popped up and pointed to the end of the alley. The two Peters watched as a group of people walked past in Spider-Man masks. “I think it’s a memorial for this world’s Spider-Man.”

“Fair enough.” Peni popped back inside as Peter and Peter put their masks back on and made their way to the end of the alley. They stepped out into the sunlight and started walking down the street, and sure enough, they only received a few curious glances, and the street was filled with other spider masks. As they walked, screens surrounded them, playing their moving pictures. He could see the other Peter glancing at one that seemed to be showing a news program, similar to the one from the night before. It was talking about the earthquake, but no concrete information was available. They passed a streetlight that seemed to have hundreds of random items sticking out of it, which was attracting a rotating crowd. A tall man stepped back and stumbled over Porker. 

“Hey, watch where you’re walking, buddy!” The man looked up in surprise, but the three spiders were swept away before he could respond. Peter figured he was confused to see a pig talk, and didn’t think about it too much. A few blocks after that, Peni motioned for them (through the ro-bot, of course) to duck into another alley. 

Once they had made it in, Peni said, “Hey, I heard someone say someone say there was going to be a memorial service in an hour. I think we should go, at least to pay our respects.”

“I agree. He was like us too, and from what I can tell, this was a bad way to go.”

“Alright, I say we head in that direction, then. We can ask people questions along the way. And so they did, Peni having seemingly found a way to navigate. They didn’t find out a lot, though given some of the things people saw when the earthquake went down, it seemed pretty certain it was connected to their coming here. They eventually reached the service, which had a large crowd, many people in masks or shirts celebrating the fallen hero. 

The other Peter tugged on his sleeve. “Hey, could I sit on your shoulder or something? I can’t see a damn thing.”

“Of course.” Peter leaned down, allowing the small pig to clamber onto his shoulder. He fit surprisingly well, and Peter didn’t have any trouble dealing with his weight (he did have super strength, after all).

The service started, and a bright haired woman who was seemingly the late Peter’s wife started speaking about how Peter had chosen to be a hero, and how they could too. She mentioned something about how they were counting on them to do that when Peter’s eyes fell on another woman standing behind the speaker, and he felt his heart stop. 

Even in color, he couldn’t mistake Aunt May. She looked crushed, standing there, but her back was still straight, and he could see an achingly familiar determination in her eyes. The last time he had seen that had been in his apartment, when he and his aunt had fought about his decision to become Spider-Man. That had been a few years ago, and he had barely seen her since. 

He wondered if she would come to his funeral.

He felt the other Peter tap his shoulder. “Hey, there’s his Aunt May. Maybe she could help us.” Peni’s ro-bot’s face put up a picture of a thumbs up. “She might know what happened with this Peter.”

Peter hesitated. Just seeing May from across a crowd of thousands had made his heart hurt, he wasn’t sure if he could deal with speaking to her. But he also knew they didn;t have that many leads, and that the others could do most of the talking, Besides, it seemed like this May felt differently about vigilantes…

They stood in silence for the rest of the service, then retreated as the crowd began to disperse. They found an alley and started swinging across buildings to reach the stage. Once there, they went back to the ground and walked towards where they could see the speaker and May talking quietly. The group stopped and looked at them, trying to figure out how to do this. 

“Let’s wait until she’s done talking to MJ.” That must be the other woman’s name. “Who wants to talk? What should we say?”

“I think we should tell the truth. Anything else is going to be more complicated. May was never one for, if you’ll pardon my language, bullshit.”

“Hey, language, we have a kid!”

“The kid doesn’t care,” echoed from the ro-bot. Before they could continue, MJ squeezed May’s shoulder and started walking away. “Let’s go.”

They walked up to May, who looked up and smiled slightly. “Very nice costumes, guys, but I need to-”

“Ms. Parker, I’m sorry to bother you, but we need your help.”

She hesitated, cocking her head at the other Peter. “You sound familiar.”

“I’ve been getting that a lot.”

“Please, ma’am,” Peni said, popping out of the robot. “We’re from other dimensions, we’re the Spider...crew from other dimensions. We wanted to see if you knew-”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” MJ had appeared behind May, fury in her eyes. “Do you think this a joke? How dare you harass a woman who just lost her nephew with something like this?”

“It’s not a joke, we swear-”

“No, you know what? Leave, or I’ll call the cops.” MJ started leading May away, still glaring at the three of them. 

“Wait.” Peter had a thought, and he reached up and pulled off his hat, then his mask. May and MJ stopped dead as they saw the greyscale face of Peter Parker staring back at them pleadingly. “We really need any help you can give us, I’m so sorry to interrupt your mourning. But I think this Peter’s death is connected to us.”

May slowly walked forward and stood in front of Peter, and god, she was just like his May, except he had never had the misfortune to see his May this heartbroken. “Holy shit.” May didn’t turn at MJ’s utterance. Instead, she hesitantly put her hand up and gently touched Peter’s cheek, and he tried not to tear up. It didn’t work. 

“You miss your May, don’t you?”

“More than I can describe.” She nodded decisively and looked at the others. 

“Well, let’s get going. You may be the answer to the problem he wasn’t able to solve. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Peter Porker shifted nervously as he stood in the dead Peter’s Spider Shed. It was incredibly high tech, and May was showing them a wall of pictures and string, describing a plot this Peter had been trying to uncover for almost a year. His headache was getting worse, and from the tension in the others shoulders and occasional rubbing of foreheads, their seemed to be doing the same. 

“So this collider has been causing earthquakes?”

“Yes. And, given what he was working on, it probably had the power to bring you all here.”

“Could I see his data?” May nodded and brought Peni over to a computer. Peter knew he wasn’t good at that stuff, so he let them talk in computer speak. Speaking of not understanding…

He wandered over to where the other Peter was squinting at a row of Spider suits under glass. “Quite a lot of options, this guy had. I think I have...seven suits? All the same, though, no cape option.” When there was no response, Peter continued, “It’s been quite an adventure so far, hasn’t it? You’re seeing colors for the first time, and technology, I’m meeting humans…” He knew he should stop talking, but he had never been good at silences, especially awkward ones. 

“Yes. An adventure.” Suddenly, the other Peter turned to him, and leaned down to whisper, “What was your relationship like with your aunt?”

Peter was taken aback. “Well, my real aunts I never really saw, they were in a different house. My Aunt May...she was the one who turned me. She’s not related to me, I think she just thought I was her nephew because of the radiation. She’s nice, but it’s a weird relationship. At least for me.”

The other Peter nodded. “Mine doesn’t approve of my being Spider-Man.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” The silence stretched into infinity. “She thought it was irresponsible. We haven’t talked for...awhile.”

“This must have been interesting for you,” Peter said, gesturing towards where May and Peni were talking about something on the computer. 

“Yes.” Peter looked into the eyes of the other Peter, and could see they had the beginnings of tears. He reached out and hugged him, carefully rubbing his back. 

“It’s alright. You’re doing your best, ok?” Peter understood what his counterpart meant; there was a reason, after all, he hadn’t told his friends about what he did. Yet another connection between them all…

“Thank you.” Peter could feel himself on the verge of crying now. He felt this Peter’s breathing against his chest, and he looked over his shoulder to see Peni frowning at the screen, a veil of fear over her face he could only see because he stared through his own. He had never thought about having others like him, (who could be like him, freak that he was?), it had never been worth the thought space in a brain that was already prone to overthinking. But now that he was here, now that he had two others who understood...he felt almost light-headed. 

At that point, Peni hopped off the computer stool and walked over to them, May following close behind. “This Peter didn’t save any of his files on the computer, so we’ll have to find a way to get the information again, make a new key, and get to the collider.”

“It’s probably too late now, unfortunately. Alchemax is pretty far, and it’s almost night.” The three nodded at May. “Would you three like to stay here?”

“Oh, we couldn’t impose on you-”

“I insist.” She smiled sadly at them. “It’s what he would have wanted, and it’s what I want too.” They nodded, knowing they couldn’t say no after a sentence like that. “Perfect. Let’s go get some dinner, shall we?”

After they ate dinner and helped May with the dishes, May quickly made up three rooms for them. They had all gotten some medicine for their headaches, which had subsided a little, and they all went to lay down, hoping for an early start the next day. Peter was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep, when it happened. 

His whole world went white, and then exploded in color and pain. It felt like every part of his body was being dipped in dry ice, and like they were moving of their own accord. There was a buzzing sound, and a wailing, and he realized through the haze that the latter was coming from him. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it stopped, leaving him sweating and panting in the bed. He realized the same thing had happened before in the lab, but not nearly as bad as this. His headache had also come back with a vengeance, pulsing along with the newly acquired soreness. He moaned, curling up in bed, trying to stop shaking. 

Then, he heard sobbing coming from the room next door. _Peni._ He slowly rolled out of bed, stumbling as he hit the floor. He made his way to the door, the world rocking beneath him. He opened the door and looked past Peni’s door to see the other Peter leaning against his own door jamb, looking scared. 

“You too?” He nodded. “We’ve gotta check on Peni.” They both walked to Peni’s door and knocked. “Hey, Peni? Can we come in?”

After a few gasping breaths, a small ‘yes’ came from the other side of the door. They hurried in to see Peni curled up in bed, shaking like a leaf. 

“Did you just...glitch?” Peter wasn’t sure what to call it, so he stuck with the name he’d given the phenomenon in the lab. 

“I think so.”

“Can we come sit with you?” Peni looked up and nodded. The two Peters walked over and sat on the bed, helping Peni maneuver herself in between them. She rocked back and forth and sobbed, and both Peters cried with her, none of them sure what had just happened. May appeared in the open doorway, concern etched into her face. 

“What happened?”

“We don’t know.”

“I-I think, it has s-s-something…” Peni took a few deep breaths, everyone waiting patiently for her to continue. “I think it’s because we’re in the wrong dimension. I think we’re reacting...badly.” May put a hand to her mouth. 

“Is there anything I can do?”

“I think just help us get back home.” May nodded. 

“I’ll get you some water.” The three thanked her as she walked away. They huddled together, hoping they wouldn’t glitch again for a while. By the time May made it back with glasses, they were all unconscious, using the others for support. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Peni lay on the couch, feeling a little nauseous. Their plan to just raid Alchemax and hope for the best was in tatters now that they were sometimes treated to atom-rending attacks. So they were planning a more structured assault, hoping the extra time wouldn’t cost them. The other two were at the table, researching and drawing diagrams. She had come to lay down after almost blacking out a few minutes ago. She didn’t know why she was taking this so much harder, but she figured it was because she was still a kid. She hit the couch cushion next to her, then immediately regretted it when a wave of dizziness swept over her. Spider lay on her chest, thoughts just as scattered as hers. It had glitched too, last night, and they’re link, usually clear, was filled with static. She was still getting emotions from Spider, but any words were broken up and choppy. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on breathing so she could go back to planning. They were approaching their second evening here, and it looked like they were working on some unknown time limit. 

Just as she was about to try sitting up, the doorbell rang. It had been doing that all day, well wishers filling May’s doorstep with signs, toys, and candles, and her fridge with casseroles. But it had been a few hours since the last stop, and May walked out of another room, looking concerned. “You three, get upstairs.” Peni carefully sat up, and was relieved when there was only a little vertigo. The two Peters appeared at her side and helped her up, supporting her as they went upstairs. They stayed just out of sight at the top, and Peni leaned against 30s Peter. The moment she had heard her Sense sing two nights ago, she had also felt something she didn’t get a lot: a feeling of trust. Something in her immediately felt like she could count on these two, and they had proven that correct. Not for a moment had they said she couldn’t do something because she was a kid, or a girl, or anything. They treated her as a part of the team, and made sure she was ok. 

When she had glitched the first time, it had felt like everything in the world, including her, was falling apart, and she had felt her own fear mixed with Spider’s in one big helping of pure panic. Once it was over, the newly formed world had started to close in on her, and she had wanted to pull her own skin off to escape. But then they had come and made sure she was ok, even though they were hurting too, because they could feel that she was dying, or so it seemed. It was wonderful to not be alone, to be able to talk to someone about how it felt to watch your broken arm heal in front of you, pinching and burning under your skin, or the weight of responsibility, about how there was sometimes not a right choice. 

She wasn’t alone, and that was one of the best things she could feel. 

They heard the door open, and heard a number of footsteps walk in. They heard one pair hurry up the stairs, and heard May whisper, “It’s safe, come to the shed.” Then she vanished, talking to voices just out of earshot. The three looked at each other and shrugged. 

“How are you feeling, Peni?”

“Better. I guess we should head to the shed?” They nodded and quietly walked down the stairs, waiting to see what this night had in store for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> This _may_ become a series of what B team was doing when we don't see them, but no promises. Lol.
> 
> Please leave kudos and comments, and come visit me on tumblr @one-true-houselight


End file.
